Anyone know anything about cold enamelling?

[Pretty things Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pretty things]

I really want to try enamelling onto PMC but since I don't have a kiln it will have to be cold enamelling. I've heard it can be difficult to use and doesn't always set properly, staying sticky. Does anyone know anything about it?

[Chrisenamels Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chrisenamels]

Cold Enamelling

I did some cold enamelling many years ago and never had any problems with it not curing properly. Its a polyester resin and it depends on wax dissolved in the resin rising to the surface to enable it to cure properly. The best way to ensure complete cure is to shake the tin/bottle before pouring the resin out, as the wax tends to settle in storage, then thoroughly mix in the pigment, before adding the catalyst and again mixing thoroughly. My experience with resins is through the model boat side of my business, my enamelwork is vitreous not cold cast.

You do not need a kiln to use vitreous enamel though, all my enamelling is done using a blowlamp. I use up to a 2" burner for the bigger decorative pieces which is a bit of a monster, but a 3/4" plumbers lamp is fine for small pieces.

Chris